


From Now On

by buckywades (CloudxMusic99)



Series: Merthur Greatest Showman AU [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 14:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21321598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudxMusic99/pseuds/buckywades
Summary: When protesters started a fire in the circus, Arthur couldn't find Merlin.
Relationships: Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merthur Greatest Showman AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1279025
Comments: 3
Kudos: 102





	From Now On

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! So... it's been awhile. I really hope this was worth the wait. Truthfully, a majority of this has been finished since May. I lost interest in it for a long time, but I'm back, baby!

“Thank you all so much for coming! Tell your friends how much fun you had at the circus!” Arthur urged the audience of the latest performance as they walked out of the building. “We have new acts every night!”

“Hey!” A man called, getting Arthur’s attention. The building had completely cleared out except for the man and a group of others with him.

“Gentlemen, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Arthur told the men.

“That’s funny,” the man said. “We were just talking about how we think you should leave. You and your freaks.”

Arthur opened his mouth to respond, but he noticed that Merlin had appeared next to him. He didn’t even hear him walk up.

“Sir, we won’t ask you again,” Merlin stated. “You need to leave. Of course, you’re welcome to come back tomorrow and protest at that performance. I know you need no invitation; you’ll do it anyway.”

“What if we don’t leave?” the man questioned. “What exactly are you going to do about it?”

“You’ve seen his act,” Arthur remarked. “Surely, you know what he’s capable of.”

“Leave it alone, Arthur,” Merlin said. “Let’s just do what needs to be done. Eventually, they’ll tire of us ignoring them.”

Merlin turned and walked away. Arthur began to do the same.

“You do everything the sorcerer tells you to do, Pendragon?” the man goaded. “Is that why Daddy disowned you? You just can’t help but be that fairy’s little bitch?”

Arthur had heard enough. He could tolerate people being rude to him, but to Merlin? Arthur was seeing red. Before he could stop himself, he punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Before Arthur knew it, a fight had broken out. He wasn’t sure how Percival, Gwaine, and the others had gotten back out there so fast, but they had. Arthur was punched by another protester, which caught him off guard. As he fell to the ground, he watched a protester pick up a lantern and thrown it against the wall, setting it aflame.

Arthur hit his head when he fell to the ground and vaguely heard someone shout for everyone to get out of the building before he blacked out. He reopened his eyes only a minute later and found that the building was almost engulfed in flames.

The fighting had stopped as protestors and performers alike made their way out of the building. Arthur looked around and noted that he didn’t see Merlin anywhere; he had to already be outside. Arthur made his way outside and spotted Morgana, still inside, setting the animals free. “Morgana!” he called. “What are you doing? We have to get out!”

“I have to set them free!” She replied. “I can’t let them die in here, Arthur!”

Arthur sighed. She was right. The building was going up in flames quickly.

Arthur hesitated, making sure his sister made it out of the building before he got outside to safety. “Is everyone out?” he asked once he met up with everyone else outside.

“I think so,” Morgana said, doing a quick scan of everyone in the crowd. “Wait… where’s Merlin?”

Arthur’s heart stopped. He scanned the crowd once, twice, and was unable to see Merlin.

“Has anyone seen Merlin?” Morgana asked.

“Last I saw, he was with Arthur,” Gwaine said.

“He walked away from the protesters,” Gwen pointed out.

“Where did he go?” Arthur asked.

“I don’t know,” Gwen said, her voice full of fright.

Arthur looked back at the building. It had gone up in flames so quickly, but if Merlin were in there…

Arthur ran back inside of the building.

“Arthur, no!” Morgana screamed.

Morgana and the others watched in horror as they realized that there was nothing they could do. Sure, Morgana had magic, but her magic wasn’t strong enough to stop a fire like this.

“Morgana!”

Morgana turned her attention to the source of the shout. Merlin! He was alright.

“Merlin! You’re alive!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Where’s Arthur?” Merlin asked.

“He just ran in after you,” Gwen said.

“No,” Merlin denied. No. Arthur wouldn’t do something that foolish. Not after Merlin had just broken his heart a few days before. Not now.

The sound of the building collapsing behind Merlin made him whip around so fast he made himself dizzy. “No!” he screamed.

That was when Percival, the circus strongman, ran into the building.

“Percival!” Gwaine called after him.

“He’ll be alright, Gwaine,” Morgana assured.

“Yeah, you’d better be right about that,” Gwaine hissed.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Percival walked back out carrying a limp Arthur.

Morgana and Merlin rushed to him. “Is he alive?” Morgana asked, fearing the worst. A building had just collapsed on him, after all.

“He’s unconscious and his breathing is shallow, but he’s alive,” Percival said, laying Arthur down on the ground.

“You idiot,” Gwaine snapped at Percival. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”

“Sorry, love,” Percival said and Gwaine wrapped his arms around him.

Merlin watched them and found himself realizing something. Percival and Gwaine were together and they were happy. They didn’t care what the world thought about them. So, why should Merlin care what the world thought about him and Arthur? He loved Arthur; that was all that mattered.

Merlin looked down at Arthur’s near-lifeless body and began sobbing. He might have missed his chance.

“I’m sorry,” Merlin whispered between sobs. “I’m so sorry, Arthur.”

~*~*~*~

Two days passed, and Arthur remained unconscious in the hospital. Merlin had refused to leave his bedside the whole time. Morgana and Gwen made it their job to look after Merlin since he refused to look after himself.

“Merlin, why don’t you go home and rest?” Morgana pleaded. “You’ve barely slept these last two days.”

Merlin laughed bitterly. “What home?” Merlin asked. “My home went up in flames. My family is scattered in the wind. My heart hasn’t opened his eyes or said a word in two days. I’m not going anywhere.”

Of course, Merlin did have a house outside of the circus, but he was right. It wasn’t his home. He spent all of his time at the circus. The family he had made there… that was home. After the building burned down, everyone split up. They went back into the shadows. They had nowhere else to go.

Gwen gently placed a hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “I know how much you care for him, Merlin,” Gwen began, “but it could be another day or so before he wakes up. He wouldn’t want you to suffer like this for his sake.”

“I’ll suffer no matter where I go,” Merlin said. “You two should go. You’ve been awake nearly as long as I have. Go, rest.”

Morgana and Gwen exchanged a look. “Fine. We’ll go rest, but on one condition,” Morgana declared. “When we come back, you have to leave and rest. If there is any change with Arthur, we’ll send for you immediately.”

“We have a deal,” Merlin promised, though he wasn’t entirely sure he would stick to it. He didn’t want Arthur to wake up and for him to not be there. He’d already pushed Arthur away so much. He couldn’t let Arthur believe, even for a second, that Merlin had abandoned him.

Hours passed, and Merlin began to give up hope that Arthur would wake before Morgana and Gwen returned.

Merlin held Arthur’s hand in his, their fingers intertwined. Slowly, Arthur’s fingers began to move. “Arthur?” Merlin asked.

“You’re here,” Arthur said, his voice rough for not being used for days. “I thought-”

“No more thinking,” Merlin hushed, and before he could stop himself, he leaned in and kissed Arthur.

Arthur did his best to kiss Merlin back, but the kiss didn’t last very long. “Merlin?” Arthur questioned. He was unsure why Merlin had just kissed him and he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“I love you, Arthur,” Merlin said. “I love you so much. I was over here preaching to you about not letting the thoughts of others get to you, but I was letting them keep us apart. No more.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Arthur asked.

“From now on, it’s you and me,” Merlin told Arthur. “I won’t let anything stand between us if you won’t.”

“I want nothing more than to be with you,” Arthur said.

“When Morgana told me you’d gone into the burning circus to save me, I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Merlin said. “All my magic, and I couldn’t save you.”

Arthur gasped as if suddenly remembering everything that happened. “The fire… what’s left of the circus?” Arthur asked.

“Nothing,” Merlin informed. “Everyone survived, but they’ve gone back into hiding.”

“It’s all my fault,” Arthur lamented.

“It’s not your fault,” Merlin said. “You were defending me. The protests were becoming worse and worse; it would’ve happened eventually. I’m just glad it happened when everyone was able to get out and be safe.”

“We need to find everyone,” Arthur said. “We can fix this. We can start over.”

“Really? You want to?”

“We will go back home, Merlin.”

Merlin smiled and kissed Arthur lightly again. “I will not let my eyes be blinded again,” Merlin promised. “I won’t let what they say get to me. From now on, it’s about us; all of us. This little family we’ve made is all that matters.”

“From now on,” Arthur said.

Merlin repeated, “from now on.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! As always, kudos and (nice) comments are greatly appreciated!


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